Hi I'm Grant the Polite Guy and I was homeless for about a year and a half. So much has happened since then. I write here to help bring homeless awareness looking at the world through a homeless person's point of view.

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Monday, October 21, 2013

I was
walking through the city this morning and it felt so good, I must say I felt
like I was home because of when I was homeless, but I must also say it felt
great to remember the past because in some way I felt very proud in myself for
getting on my feet and doing what I do.

A guy
stopped me walking past BOQ Building and said how he heard about me on the radio
and started reading my blog and wanted to say “Hi”. As good as it felt I was
also guilty because I started thinking how I don’t write on here as much as
what I did as a homeless person.

You see I
started thinking of all the things that I can do to help that many more as I
know what homeless are going through. I even started thinking that even though
my new business “Having a Go Coffee” at Coorparoo is helping people, it’s not
enough. So I’m proud to say I’m also working on many new projects at the same
time. I won’t say what yet because I’m still working them out. But I will say,
each one of my projects will help people on their feet in some way or I wouldn’t
put it together.

I have in
the past posted on Facebook that the shop in Coorparoo is in fear of closing
because it didn’t get enough customers. Well whatever I did was the trick
because people came from everywhere and the sales doubled overnight. Thank you
for that, it means I can now employ more people after helping them on their
feet. There’s a famous saying and that’s “the money has to go into the cash
register before money can go out”. Also on a great note the Suspended Coffee’s
is in the plus of 28 for the first time which means we can help that many more
people. AWESOME.

I have to
say I feel like I’m doing something really great knowing I’m helping so many
people. Really please everyone that reads this post go out and do just one
thing to help someone and see how you feel making a small or big difference to
someone you don’t know. I hope you’ll feel like I do and that’s your walking on
air and being proud.

I was just
thinking of writing a list of all the great things I’ve done to help people in
the last 2 weeks, but to be honest just once in a while I want to keep things
for just me to know. I will say I’ve helped two people by paying for plane
tickets to return home to their families, clothes for people that needed them,
furnisher and much more. I would never ask anyone to do something I wouldn’t
do.

Monday, October 7, 2013

First of all I was successful with a family, house and a great job when I had an accident on a stairwell and ended up in hospital for 9 months with multiple injuries and leaving with a back brace.

Losing everything I was homeless for 1 ½ years of which the last 6 months of that I started making a huge difference in people’s lives. You see as a Big Issue vendor (which I became vendor of the year) I had a lot of customers or people that would say “Hi” all the time. One day I started asking everyone I knew if they would like to donate clothes they didn’t want anymore to me to give to a Homeless Centre to give to homeless for free. I got two very full station wagons full of clothes to donate.

Two months later I did the same thing except this time I asked for food for a BBQ as well, you see I started telling all the homeless and people I knew to come to a park and collect free BBQ food, clothes, blankets, toiletries and much more. 400 turned up which excited me and I continue to do these BBQ’s which became bigger, between 400-1,000 people getting help every two months going to Musgrave Park, Caboolture, Ipswich and Wynnum. But the best thing was the very first two BBQ’s I done while homeless myself.

I would like to add that these BBQ’s are not to just give free food and things, we have 100’s of volunteers there trying to talk to these people in a means of helping them on their feet. I know 100’s of homeless and people in need have turned up and left to go straight into accommodations and employment. There’s no better feeling.

I have and always will be proud with what I do with my BBQ’s but I have taken it one step further with a new project called “Having a Go Coffee” which I use my contacts to help homeless or people in need on their feet and then give them training and employment working. This will give them a head start in hospitality and makes them part of society and participating in a world at which they only used to look from the outside. I can already see the difference in the first people I employed. The fact that someone believes in them has given them confidence and I can see their hope for the future. I’m putting together 50 locations throughout Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The way I look at it, If I help and employ 8-10 people per location then it’ll help 400-500 homeless and people in need to have that first or second chance at life.

I have 2 locations and already working on my 3rd and 4th as I write this now. My plan is to get the 50 locations by July next year. I know it’s a big task but I know I say a famous saying to people I’m trying to help, “There’s only two things we can’t do and that’s walk on water, but I heard someone did and we can’t find the second thing”

If you would like to donate towards this great project please do as I need all the help I can get.

About Me

Hi I Grant the polite guy. I'm a big issue vendor that sells mags in the city. I spend most of my time saying "Have a nice day" to people that walk pass. I would see thousands of people a day and see alot of things that I am happy to share with you. If you stand in one spot long enough you'll see the world come to you.
I hope you enjoy the stories and have a nice day.